Annual General Meeting 2018

More than 180 people gathered for Essex Community Foundation’s annual general meeting at Braxted Park Estate.

Guests included the Lord-Lieutenant, the High Sheriff, members of the Foundation, supporters, fundholders and community and business leaders. To view photos from the event, click here.

We are very grateful to Braxted Park Estate, CCLA Investment and Handelsbanken for supporting the event.

During the evening we said a fond farewell to our Chairman of the last five years, Jonathan Minter DL, under whose leadership the Foundation’s endowed funds have grown to £43 million. Having served his full eight year term as Trustee, Jonathan handed the reigns over to our next Chairman, Nicholas Alston CBE DL.

We are delighted to welcome Nick, who has extensive experience in partnership working and a deep understanding of the voluntary and community sector and the issues that they tackle through their work. Read more about Nick.

Over the past 22 years, ECF has built a strong track record and distribute around £3 million in grants annually.

Whilst we acknowledge our achievements, we know there is still so much more to do. During a speech at our AGM, Nicholas Alston CBE DL said: "In the next five years, we aim to award a further £15 million in grants to support the work of local charities and voluntary organisations.

"To maximise the difference this funding will make, we will work closely with communities to understand current and developing issues. Having discussed where we want the Foundation to be in 10 years time, myself and fellow Trustees are working on a new five year strategic plan to set out how we will get there.

At the core of ECF’s work is the passion to bring together people to improve the areas in which we live and build healthier and more resilient communities. Your support is vital in helping us to do this."

After the formalities, we showed two inspiring and heartwarming videos of local charities that have received grant funding from ECF. You can watch these below:

If you have any questions about the work of Essex Community Foundation, please contact us on 01245 355947. We are happy to help.